Coca-Cola, Hyundai Drop Oscars As GM, Pepsi Come On Board

Longtime Oscars sponsors Coca-Cola and Hyundai Motor have dropped their support of the event, their places taken by PepsiCo and General Motors, ABC disclosed Thursday.

The Walt Disney network said J.C. Penney, another veteran Oscars advertiser, remained on the roster of advertisers for the event. Other advertisers who will appear during the March 2, 2014, telecast are Johnson & Johnson, AARP, American Express, Chattem, Coldwell Banker, Johnson & Johnson, Mars, McDonald's. Samsung, Sprint, Sunovion, and Unilever,which will advertise two products: Dove and Lipton.

Hyundai had been the event's exclusive auto advertiser since 2009, part of an aggressive ad strategy that had the Korean automaker taking over many ad perches previously held by U.S. automakers. In 2012, Hyundai spent about $11.3 million on Oscars advertising, according to Kantar, a tracker of ad spending, about three minutes and 30 seconds' worth of advertising. Coca-Cola. meanwhile, spent around $8.1 million on about two minutes and 30 seconds' worth of commercials.

An ABC spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.

ABC sold out of ad inventory for the show in October. The network had been seeking between $1.8 million and $1.9 million for a 30-second spot, a new benchmark for Oscars ad coin.